I have often seen people who have language deficits (from strokes, head trauma or other things) identified by staff as having full blown dementia – and therefore as not able to express opinions/understand their options. The white board is also a great tool for these people. For those with more significant aphasia/language comprehension problems communicating though the board but offering three choices that you then point to allows them to express an opinion. So, for example, write a question – “How bad is your pain?” Give three choices “Bad”, “medium”, “OK” and point to each asking the person to nod or otherwise indicate their response. With this sort of tool – you can move to other conversations and significantly decrease the sense of frustration for people who have difficulty communicating.

As you point out, it’s not just the frail elderly who are affected by confusion. Hospitals – in and of themselves – are confusing and the effects of surgery on our thinking are much more significant than most physicians acknowledge. While most people recover and get back to their normal level of cognition, studies are clear that people’s IQ drops about 10 points for up to three weeks after a significant surgery. So, they get back to normal after the hospitalization and after they are being given instructions on their post hospital care.

I would also love to post this article on our blog. Living Well – Assisted Living at Home is a California-based company that focuses on providing elders with a real alternative to moving into a facility – regardless of frailty – by providing a complete suite of services from health care, to home modifications, to social activities

Sharon

I would be honored to participate in one of your Purposeful Planning Collaboration quarterly calls. Is there any chance I could listen in on Jay’s call?

You certainly have my permission to post this blog on Seedlings.

Best regards,

David Solie

One of my Denver friends, Stephanie West Allen, commented on your blog on her blog Idealawg this morning.

I love your suggestion and see immediate application to this outside of the hospital room as well for the financial planners and estate planners I’m trying to positively influence.

I’d love to have your permission to post this in my blog, Seedlings, and expose your blog and thinking to those who are following my musings on generativity, legacies, purposeful trusts and gifts, purposeful philanthropy and teams of affinity.

I’ve just launched a “community” called the Purposeful Planning Collaboration. We will have a quarterly call which I’ve entitled the Industry Innovators and Thought Leaders Series. I’d love to ask if you would be willing to participate as one of our Industry Innovators and Thought Leaders. We could discuss a topic of your choosing that would be of interest to this diverse community of financial planners, estate planning attorneys, wealth psychologists, beneficiary coaches, trustees. The normal format is that you pick the topic, I get my advisory board to approve it, and then you give me a series of questions to ask…that would allow you to conversationally get your key points across…we do that for 30-40 minutes…and then we allow 15-20 minutes for the Collaborators to ask you questions and/or share their experiences that confirm the wisdom you have just shared with them. I usually make a point at the beginning and at the end of the call to plug your book or books. So you don’t have to do the self-promotion thing…I will do it for you.

So I hope you will consider this invitation and would be honored to have you as a guest. Jay Hughes is going to be the first Thought Leader and I’d love to have you follow shortly thereafter.

My very best and heartfelt thanks for a wonderful piece. I’m subscribing to your web site and will look forward to following your postings.

John A

Travel safely next month.